*OFFICIAL* M14x Owner's Lounge Thread - READ BEFORE POSTING

I use AVG, but I've heard a lot of people prefer microsoft security essentials.

 

Ok, thank you for your answers.
I like Kaspersky, but i might use the Microsoft security essentials...

 

Mine just arrived today, and im loving it

Just a few quick questions;

How can i tell/control if its using the GT555M Or the Intel 3000 Gpu?

How can i tell/control whether the cpu runs at 2ghz or 2.9ghz?

Also, the screen isnt as bad as i had expected and the keyboard is much nicer than i had expected

 

Just ordered my M14x

Core i7 2820QM
4GB DDR3 1600
500GB 7200RPM Hard-Disk (will surely upgrade to SSD at some point)
Nvidia GT 555M 1.5GB
1600x900 Display
Killer Wireless-N
Bluetooth
Nova Red

Was tax-free weekend here in NC, so I grabbed it for ~$1650 I believe.

 

http://www.kinghonor.co.kr/admin/editor/UploadFile/2011710183847417.jpg
http://www.kinghonor.co.kr/admin/editor/UploadFile/201171018411872.jpg

What do you think about these ? Will it affect the laptop as the heat cant escape so easily ?

 

Is that real carbon fibre or just a decal kit?

Why would it stop heat escaping though?

 

Im sure the skin will be fine. I doubt its real carbon fiber unless your paying 75+, and if it is, I'd be wary, I havent seen any good REAL carbon fiber skins. The fake ones are bad too though. Let carbon fiber be exclusively for cars. Try invisibledefenders.com, I have heard good things, and they just came out with compatability for the m14x.

 

Got mine on Thursday, it was a replacement for my high end desktop, I dont really play that many games anymore other than the odd MMO that i get hooked on so i was happy to see that it ran WOW brilliantly.

Sound is great on it, i got the 256gb SSD, been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the build.

 

Hello I just got my m14x was going to get the macbook pro 15 inch instead. But I quickly noticed on my college classes for my microsoft certifications that this will be a pain in the to use. So I like gaming, I got this. Love at first site <3

 

Does anyone know how long the battery life is for the M14x?

 

3-4 hours surfing on wifi. 1+ gaming and 3 hours dvd. might be able to get more hours surfing depending on lighting and other settings

 

Im just wondering,
Specs are i7-2630
500GB HDD
900p screen
Bigfoot Killer Wireless
8GB RAM

On lowest brightness and power saver mode with alienFX on, is it normal to only get 2+ hours of battery or did I receive a faulty battery?
* Just normal web browsing, watching some youtube

 

Ok now I will be gettign the m14x

 

Hey all - just curious about something: I am debating picking up an m14x to act as a desktop replacement. Half the time it would sit closed connected to a USB hub/Monitor under a floating shelf. I'm wondering how the heat dispersion would be in this situation.

Any advice?

 

I get around 5 hours surfing.

 

What SSDs are people using?

I was thinking of getting a 128GB OCZ Agility 3 as I use one for my desktop already. Any better suggestions?

 

hi guys, im new to the forum, and i want to buy a new laptop.
now i am upgrading my desktop to a gtx590, and the laptop will not be a desktop replacement. i searched a lot and i decided 2 configs.
m11x r3-core i5, etc 999 usd
m14x-core i5, gt555 1,5gb, 900p, 1174usd.
i know that with both laptops i will have a good performance, i will only use to do university works and play when i have a free time on college, and the games that i cant play on max i will play on my desktop.
there is a difference of 175 usd. is better go to m14x or m11x?
my opinion
m11x-mobility, battery.
m14x-design looks better than m11x.
so the design is the only thing that can make me buy a m14x, so 175usd worth the design of m14x? (175 is an asus xonar stx to my desktop)
can someone help me?
thanks

 

A dumb question - The CPU is upgradeable, right? If I buy a M14x with i7 2630, would I be able to put in a 2820QM when I want?

Thank you

 

i would like to know this as well. i took advantage of the dell outlet 20% discount yesterday and i'm thinking about swaping out the default hd with a SSD, but i don't know which one to get or how difficult it is to install. advice?

 

I own a Vertex 2 myself and installation wise is not bad at all. The only issue I have now is my Vertex 2 didn't work with Intel RST drivers. And this was not an issue when I had it in my Dell XPS 1645.

While doing research on the drive, I read A LOT of people complain about reliability of OCZ drives, so I think I would prefer getting other brands. Outlet laptop came with an Alienware Win OS disk, so I think you should be ok

 

anyone try putting in a Crucial SSD? if so, any issues?

 

I put a Crucial C300 128gb on my m14x. So far no issues except the SATA 3. Without RST you will get the SATA 3 speed. The Read speed will be fine but the Write will be low about 90-110. Idk why this is happening. If you install RST you will get SATA 2 speed. 260 Read and 150 Write. But I haven't encountered any freezes or BSOD.

 

so was it worth purchasing and installing?

 

As for myself being a first time user of an SSD i think it's worth it. The laptop feels for snappier opening applications. Boot time reduced. If you don't mind the SATA 2 speed then it's a nice upgrade until/if they fix the SATA 3 issues.

 

did anyone notice a change in battery life when they switched to a ssd?

 

Hey guys, wondering if anyone had any thoughts on installing this. I think it would be fun! Anyone see any blatant issues?
Touch Screen Panel Kit FOR all 14.1" 16:9 Laptop LCD | eBay

 

Whats Crackin Y'all, I'm patiently awaiting arrival of a beautiful work of art more commonly referred to as the "M14x" pimped out to tha max B-)...Saw @ store and fell in love Fo-Sha-haw! So my big booty GF called got Dell credit and got everything I wanted...Anyone know if I can change outside alien head light Purple or just inside illegal alien cabesa?? Ooo cant sleep! Sucks having to wait but i got new 2860 processor day after release so wait worth it. Tell me some goods I wonder how much faster the 2860QM is over the 2920XM ? Waiting for benchmarks cause processor s~o new nobody uploaded yet WOOT! Does the SSD take up the HD slot or can I add both?

 

Why my Specs broke?

-T91MT Eee PC OC 133OC to 160mHz, 32g SSD, 2-32G SDHC

-Alienware M14X - Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
-Intel Core i7 2860QM 2.5GHz (3.6GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache
-8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
-3.0GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus technology 16x9
-256GB Solid State Drive SATA 3Gb/s
-Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO
-Internal 60GHz WirelessHD Transmitter

 

Hello,

Proud new owner here.

First, I must say that so far (2 weeks) I love my new M14x. It handles everything I throw at it with great ease. I read a great deal about this baby before buying it, and I was aware of most if not all of the issues, mainly by reading about them here on NBF, so thanks to all for the heads ups, tips, reviews, etc.

The M14x is awesome. It's not that hot, it's not that loud and the screen is not that bad. The sound is great through headphones and external speakers, and although I had difficulty installing the NVDIA 280.26 driver, it runs everything at max so far, except for NWN2 ( almost maxed though).

Couple of gripes:
The glare is very distracting, need a filter. Videos are dark (only watched season 1 of Falling Skies and many night scenes are barely watchable) but this could be the quality of the video more then the screen itself. Games look great.
I waited over a month to receive it, as Dell cancelled my order 3 times. Apparently backorder hard drives (500 Gb). I didn't mind waiting, but the lack of info and email updates from Dell forces me to recommend buying the M14x in store, in person.

Great machine, not just for gaming, I love it!

Now will it run Diablo 3, Deus Ex HR, Mass effect 3 and Skyrim? Time will tell.

 

Hey!
Tonight is my first night with my M14x.

So far I'm still adjusting to the AW Keyboard. I've never used an AW before but I thought I'd try one out since they seem to be at the high end of performance laptops.

So far, I'm a little concerned about the heat on the right wristpad and the fan noise, which is continuously on. All I am doing is running itunes, and the fan has been on medium the whole time. I even have a Zalman NC2000 under it. I'm suspecting that the Zalman might actually be blocking the airflow.

I've uploaded a picture of the temperatures from Speedfan and HWmonitor.

Could you guys please tell me the normal/max operating temperatures of this laptop?

I am also wondering if the display (which is quite sharp), can be made any brighter?

I'm coming from a massive Asus G73JH, so its a quite different experience already.

 

I have had mine for two weeks as well and also think it is an excellent machine (need to update my sig). Didn't you enjoy Falling Skies?! I am so looking forward to next season

 

Do you have a disk in the drive?

I find mine gets warmer faster when a disk is in because something is always humming in there, even if I'm not using the disk at all.
Also, there was an issue with the Realtek software on startup that would take up a lot of processing power and also would launch the fan. The solution was to run msconfig and disable realtek on startup.
I don't have this fan problem though so I didn't bother deactivating it yet.

Your temps seems to be the same as mine though.

I read that some users reach close to 100C so I think we're lucky.

 

I flashed my bios to v5.0 and the fans stopped spinning so loudly. Now they only turn on every 10 minutes versus every 2 minutes...

In other questions, how do I actually change the desktop color saturation? My screen looks incredibly washed out.

Also, is anyone else having ethernet issues? I have installed the Atheros driver, but when I connect via ethernet to my campus wired connection, I get a DNS error..

 

Wow this forum is so active!

 

Question! I looked around, but couldn't fine a specific place to share AlienFX Themes. I some that I'd like to share!

 

Nope, but there was a topic where some ppl shared somes fx themes:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/582281-m14x-alienfx-themes.html

 

Awesome! Thanks a ton!

 

Hey folks, I'm looking at a M14x for use as a desktop replacement rather than as a gaming system. Key things I'm looking for are size (the 14" is perfect, but I'm intrigued by the idea of the M11x too), a decent CPU, and - most importantly - the presence of a DisplayPort output, and HDMI output and a VGA output. The reason is that this will normally be used in my office, where I have an HP ZR30w 30" LCD (which only has a Displayport input), and a 24" 1920x1200 display that I want to drive via HDMI, as well as an older 19" LCD that I want to use with the RGB. My current Vostro 17 laptop lets me drive them all simultaneously as well as the internal panel, but it has an AMD video card in it. A Dell XPS15 that I use can only drive any two displays (internal or external) at once, and I understand that this is a limitation of its Nvidia 435M chipset. I've also heard that Nvidia has addressed this, and that their newer chips can drive at least 3 displays simultaneously, if not four. Can anyone confirm that this has been fixed in the Nvidia 555M in the M14x? i.e., that you can have at least the internal panel, a Displayport screen and an HDMI screen all running simultaneously? (or, the internal panel, the Displayport and the RGB - I could always drive the 24" with an RGB output and drive the old 19" with a USB-RGB dongle - but the key is to be able to drive the internal panel, the Displayport and at least one more output simultaneously)

Thanks!

[BTW: many posters here have commented that the 3 GB RAM option for the 555M is a complete waste; I'm wondering if the ability to drive multiple high-res external monitors is the reason the option exists]

 

Gentlemen and Ladies,

After a very stressful week or so dealing with customer service, I have finally received my laptop, I must say, they delivered it extremely quick, especially after a mess up on their end.

(My advice is keep saying respectfully "may i talk to your supervisor", not only was my laptop shipped, it was shipped "same day" or redlined as some call it).

Anyway, I know have my baby... question is now what?

Should I be installing anything? Drivers perhaps? I bought it to play BF3 thats about it, and I would like to do so at the best possible graphics possible, without putting to much stress on my laptop.

Cheers!

 

Play some BF3 Beta.

 

Box it up send it back Fed-Ex Overnight Priority. It's a piece of .

Ha just kidding, but in all seriousness download the latest drivers for BF3.

Here's a link - Graphics Driver - Verde 285.38 Driver - GeForce

I'd also do a search for HW Info to check your core temps to make sure you don't overheat while your playing games. Anything over 95C is too much.

Hope this helps.

 

I recorded 93C, immediately shut off the laptop and ordered an external cooling pad unit. Havn't installed the drivers yet but will soon.

Thanks.

 

We generally try to keep the CPU below these temps but understand that it is built to handle ~100°C.

 

I dunno why, but when I first got my M14x it was having temps in the 90s as well. As time went on it maxed out at mid 80s and 70s ... But enjoy your M14x you'll love it

 

Same thing as fred2028.
CPU temps decreased drastically for me.
First day, 15 minutes of Fifa 11 made the CPU reach 95-ish temperatures.
After about 3-4 days, I don't go beyond 85 on NFS Shift with settings maxed.
GPU temps didn't change that much. They're usually around 60-70.

 

I wonder if they use a thermal paste that has a cure time, and that's why the temps are dropping after a few days.

 

There are so many other confounding variables such as upgrading drivers, changing settings, etc. I'm sure there are many factors that come into lay.

 

I just received my U2 cooler. Now I just need to decide where to put the fans.

The thing is, most of the heat is on the left side, and that's where the air blows out (well, it blows out the back, but there's a vent on the bottom)


Should I put a fan there? Or like, below it? Or should they just be in the center or the right side? Any help would be nice, preferably from someone who also has fans.

 

Its normal that I'm having temps of 95 to 99 on each core? I was playing on a emulator(dolphin)... also when I'm playing BFBC2 or portal 2, I'm getting around 99° on one core and 90+ on the others... I didn't use any cooler... some advice that it doesn't include something about get a cooler? thanks

 

If I'm not mistakin', the vent under the left side of the M14x sucks cool air in, and the one in the back blows hot air out.
So it would be best to place one fan over the vent under the laptop, to blow more cool air into the machine. I would place the second one under the right side of the palm rest, or under the vent located under the right side (HDD?).